Market Turmoil: Weak Jobs Report & Buffett's Apple Sell-off Signal Trouble?

Last Friday, the U.S. July non-farm payroll report came in weak, raising the risk of a hard landing for the U.S. economy and triggering a massive wave of risk aversion.

U.S. stocks tumbled, with the S&P 500 down 1.84%, losing 2.06% for the week; the Dow fell 1.51%, down 2.10% for the week; and the Nasdaq dropped 2.43%, ending the week 3.35% lower.

Over the weekend, news of Buffett significantly reducing his stake in Apple sparked fresh investor panic.

On the macro side, the U.S. July S&P Global Services PMI final reading will be released on Monday, and Thursday will bring the Weekly initial jobless claims. These are important indicators for the U.S. economy.

If the data falls short of expectations, it could trigger another wave of risk aversion in the market.

Last week, we predicted that the S&P 500's downward trend wasn't finished, and so far, it's on track. The next support level to watch is around 5263, the previous high. In past pullbacks, we've seen three to four days of falling before things turn around. So, this week, keep an eye on whether we see signs of a bottoming out on the daily chart or if the weekly downward trend starts to slow down.

In terms of stocks, Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's company, released its 10-Q report on Saturday, revealing a massive reduction in its Apple holdings, down nearly 50%. This is likely to put some selling pressure on Apple.

On the earnings front, Intel's latest second-quarter results and third-quarter guidance fell short of expectations. They also announced major layoffs and suspended dividends.

The company's stock plunged 26% in one day, marking its biggest drop in over 40 years.

AMD is rapidly eating into Intel's data center business share, and I personally believe AMD will continue to challenge Intel. Currently, Intel's market cap is only 40% of AMD's.